The Hanover Borough Council is planning this week to discuss the possible removal of one of its members at the request of one councilman.
At the borough's finance committee meeting last week, Councilman Sonny Eline passed out a memo in which he shared comments Councilwoman Heidi Hormel made on her personal Facebook page regarding the proposed nature trail and wanted the borough to consider removing her from office.

In her comments, Hormel claimed certain council members were holding closed meetings about the proposed nature trail.

"It is disappointing that in the three years this plan has been discussed in closed meetings that Mr. Eline only talked to business owners," Hormel posted on her page April 15. "Glad this is finally in the 'open'... transparency should be the goal of all council members."

Hormel questioned the building of the trail and whether it is a good idea for Hanover. She has also made comments on her Facebook page about how the trail was planned.

In his memo, Eline denied any closed meetings were held.

"Councilwoman Hormel has not bothered to attend any public service meetings where this project was discussed over the course of time," Eline wrote. "I have requested the Borough Manager contact our solicitor regarding (Hormel's) statements. They are complete fabrications that need to be addressed.

Advertisement

"

In an interview, Hormel said she asked to see minutes of the meetings Eline referenced, but was told by Borough Manager Barb Krebs there were no minutes because the meetings were closed.

Krebs said while there were no closed meetings, she told Hormel she might not be able to immediately find the minutes.

She sent Eline's concerns to borough Solicitor James Yingst, as requested, and Yingst said he would respond to the full council at the next meeting.

"It is quite obvious this Nature Trail project is another vehicle Councilwoman Hormel has used as part of her vendetta against staff and in particular our Borough Manager," Eline's memo states. "Unfortunately she has chosen to tie my integrity into her personal crusade to disrupt the activity of Hanover Borough."

The Pennsylvania State Constitution allows for an elected official to be removed from office if that official exhibits misconduct in office. A majority of the council members must vote to have the member in question removed. Eline said Hormel's comments were out of line and showed she has a "vendetta" against the borough officials, and Krebs, in particular.

Councilman Henry McLin said at the finance committee meeting April 17 that the memo was not on the agenda and he did not want to discuss the matter at that time. He moved for the discussion to be tabled and added to the Hanover Borough Council meeting agenda.

"I'm not prepared to talk about this tonight," McLin said. "I have other things to do and I think this should be tabled until the next council meeting."

Eline said he wanted it to be a public discussion.

Hormel said she posted those comments on her personal Facebook page knowing the public could see them.

"Anything I ask or say on there, I ask and say at the meetings," she said. "I only say them in the hopes of gaining transparency on the issues for myself and the community."

Hormel said she's not the only council member who has a Facebook page and said she was only exercising her First Amendment rights to free speech.

"As part of a group of 10 people, we (the council) aren't always going to agree," she said. "I think the council tries to do what's best for the borough, and sometimes we will disagree."

Hormel said she has no intentions of stepping down for the remainder of the term. She has been on council for almost eight years and is not seeking re-election when her term is finished at the end of this year. The committee voted to discuss the matter at the council meeting, to be held in council chambers at 7:30 p.m., April 24.